Farewell at the Passmore Edwards Settlement

*A retelling based on **'Abdu'l-Bahá in London**, which reprints the Christian Commonwealth's report of the farewell meeting at the Passmore Edwards Settlement on 29 September 1911, together with 'Abdu'l-Bahá's farewell words. Words in quotation marks are as printed in that book.*

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'Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in London on the evening of 4 September 1911. It was His first visit to the West. Apart from a brief visit to Bristol, He stayed for four weeks at 97 Cadogan Gardens, where His time was taken up mainly with interviews with people who wished to meet Him.

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On Friday evening, 29 September, the eve of His departure for Paris, about four hundred and sixty people met at the invitation of Mrs. Thornburgh-Cropper in the hall of the Passmore Edwards Settlement in Tavistock Place to bid Him farewell. The meeting opened with the Lord's Prayer, spoken by everyone present, followed by Bahá'u'lláh's prayer for unity and a fifth-century prayer ascribed to Pope Gelasius. Professor Michael Sadler took the chair.

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Other speakers followed him, among them Eric Hammond, Alice Buckton, Sir Richard Stapley, Mrs. Stannard from Egypt, and Claude Montefiore, who, "as a Jew," rejoiced in the growth of the spirit of unity. The reporter wrote that "the atmosphere was very different from that of an ordinary meeting or religious gathering."

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Then 'Abdu'l-Bahá rose to give His farewell address.

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He stood for about fifteen minutes, "speaking in soft musical Persian." He spoke of Bahá'u'lláh, who had arisen in Persia some sixty years before, in a time of war and racial hatred, "inspired with the message of Peace and of Brotherhood among men." Bahá'u'lláh, He said, "likened the world of humanity to a tree, and all the nations to its branches and the people to its leaves, buds and fruits." He recalled Bahá'u'lláh's imprisonment and His exiles to Baghdád, Constantinople, Adrianople and 'Akká, and how "under chains and from His cell He succeeded in spreading His cause, and uplifting the banner of the oneness of humanity."

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He then spoke of what He hoped for:

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"As the East and the West are illumined by one sun, so all races, nations, and creeds shall be seen as the servants of the One God. The whole earth is one home, and all peoples, did they but know it, are bathed in the oneness of God's mercy. God created all. He gives sustenance to all. He guides and trains all under the shadow of His bounty."

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He thanked His hearers for the kindness He had met in London: "I shall never forget this time I am spending with you." He told them that He had endured forty years in a Turkish prison until the revolution of 1908 set the prisoners free, and He closed with a prayer: "I leave you with prayer that all the beauty of the Kingdom may be yours. In deep regret at our separation, I bid you good-bye."

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As 'Abdu'l-Bahá left the hall, the poor people of the neighbourhood crowded the pavement to see Him, and a little lame girl on crutches was brought to Him.

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*This is a retelling. For the full report and the complete farewell address, see **'Abdu'l-Bahá in London**.*

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